There was little time to fret about Monday night's struggles for the Helias Lady Crusaders.
A game less than 24 hours later proved to be the right medicine for what ailed them.
"We just needed to get back on the court," Helias coach Doug Light said Tuesday night after the Lady Crusaders rolled to a 63-20 victory against the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Lady Tigers at Rackers Fieldhouse.
In Monday's 50-44 home loss to Cuba, Helias struggled for much of the game on the offensive end and in the final two quarters on the defensive side. But there were no such woes Tuesday against an overmatched Sedalia Smith-Cotton team that is playing without two of its better players that decided not to come out this season.
After the first couple of minutes, the only thing in doubt was the final margin of Helias' victory. Molly Light and Katlyn Cowell hit 3-pointers from nearly the same spot on consecutive possessions to give the Lady Crusaders an early 6-0 lead.
It was 16-0 before the Lady Tigers finally got on the board with 1:06 left in the first quarter. Smith-Cotton, which trailed 16-4 at the end of the period, was 0-of-4 from the field with eight turnovers prior getting its first points.
"Our press really controlled things, even when they got through it, it unsettled them," Doug Light said. "Our communication was really good, we were matching up better defensively than we did Monday."
Helias opened the second quarter with an 11-0 run, with Luci Francka and Ashley Rehagen scoring four points each. The Lady Crusaders took a 33-9 advantage into intermission after shooting 13-of-28 from the field.
"That's pretty nice, we'd take most of the time," Light said. "We've had a lot worse this season, that's for sure."
The 1-2 punch of Francka and Mai Nienhueser sparked Helias to a 24-5 scoring edge in the third quarter. Nienhueser had eight of her 10 points in the quarter, while Francka totaled seven of her game-high 15.
With Helias holding a 57-14 lead, the fourth quarter was played with the mercy clock.
"It gave us a chance to give extended minutes to some girls who don't get to play that much," Light said. "It was a good chance for them to get some varsity experience."
Molly Light was a third Lady Crusader to score in double figures, finishing with 11 points. A total of 10 Lady Crusaders scored points in the win.
Kirby Lewellyn and Kaira Williams had five points each to lead Smith-Cotton (3-8), which finished 6-of-22 from the field with 26 turnovers.
Helias (6-4) is back in action Friday against Moberly at Moberly Area Community College. The JV girls game will start at 5 p.m., with the varsity girls contest slated for a 6:30 p.m. start. That will be followed by the boys varsity game between the two schools.